The 11-member stakeholder team convened by Nashville, Tenn.-based Meharry Medical College in November to discuss the future of Nashville General Hospital held a second closed-door meeting Tuesday, the Tennessean reports.
The team has come under fire after panel members refused to share basic details about the meetings. Patrick Johnson, senior vice president for institutional advancement at Nashville-based Meharry Medical College and member of the panel, said the team constitutes "a private entity and just like every private entity we don't hold meetings in the public forum, nor are we required to," the report states.
The multidisciplinary team was created shortly after Nashville Mayor Megan Barry unexpectedly revealed plans to transition Nashville General into an outpatient facility. The decision was reportedly made without informing the hospital's CEO or governing board, according to the report.
Tanaka Vercher, PhD, chair of the Metropolitan Council's budget and finance committee, declined to participate as a member of the team and has openly criticized the way in which the meetings have been conducted.
"If we're going to discuss community wide solutions as it relates to Nashville General Hospital, it needs to be a public meeting where the public can be included," said Dr. Vercher. "[The public] at least need[s] an opportunity to hear the dialogue first-hand in this process."
Dr. Vercher filled her seat on the panel with another individual of her choosing. Dr. Vercher's designee expressed his concerns in an email to her prior to the team's first meeting Dec. 18. In the email, the designee expressed his reservations regarding the team's April 1 deadline to devise policy recommendations with regard to the hospital ahead of the city's budgeting process, according to the report.
News of the team's second meeting comes hours after two Metro Council members proposed a bill preventing any action altering the safety-net hospital's operating agreement with the city until June 2019.
Editor's note: This article was updated Jan. 11 at 9:43 a.m. A previous version of this article said Nashville Mayor Megan Barry created the panel, not Meharry Medical College. We regret this error.